Butter dispenser



Oct; 22, 1957 c. w. DUNNET BUTTER DISPENSER 4 Sheet-Sheet 1 Filed Feb, 2'7, 1956 Fla, 3

- INVENTOR. C'jn/ Dun/NET Oct. 22, 1957 c. w. DUNNET BUTTER DISPENSER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 27.- 1956 v INVENTOR.

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BUTTER DISPENSER I 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 27, 1956 INVENTOR. ,6. W. paw/v57 4 M ArroeAIE/ Oct. 22, 1957 c. w. DUNNET 2,810,195

BUTTER DISPENSER Filed Feb. 27, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. W. au/wvzr BUTTER DISPENSER Charles William Dunnet, Cynwyd, Pa.

Application February 27, 1956, Serial No. 568,057

3 Claims. (Cl. 31-21) My invention relates to a device for dispensing butter and more particularly relates to a sanitary device in which a plurality of one-quarter pound cakes of butter may be stored and later cut for the dispensing of individual patties as desired.

It is the general practice at hotels, restaurants, and

elsewhere to serve butter at the table in the form of individual patties. This practice is not only hygienic but also economical since it avoids the necessity of serving any appreciable quantity of butter in excess of the needs of the user. However, in the event the patron consumes a large quantity of butter, a burden is put on the server because of additional table trips required. While placing a number of patties on an iced plate alleviates the latter problem somewhat, an additional difficulty is created because of the tendency for the individual pats to stick together and again imposing an unsanitary condition. Although prior butter dispansers have been constructed, each has produced deficiencies because of complicity of mechanism, prohibitive cost and difficulty in cleaning and sterilizing.

nitd S ates Patent It is, therefore, an object of my invention to construct a butter dispenser which will provide sanitary self service of butter in hotels, restaurants or any other establishment where butter is served.

Another object of my invention is to provide a dispensing apparatus into which a plurality of one-quarter pound cakes of butter may be stored and whereby the butter may be cut into a succession of uniform patties and dispensed individually.

Another object of my invention is to provide a butter dispenser for discharging patties into individual plates without the necessity of the operator touching the butter.

Another object of my invention is to provide a butter dispenser whereby the butter dispensed is maintained in a sanitary condition at all times.

Another object of my invention is to provide a butter dispenser which is so constructed as to permit the device to be readily disassembled, cleaned and sterilized, and quickly reassembled.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved device of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly efficient in operation.

With the above and related objects in view, my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a butter dispenser embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along lines 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of Fig. 4.

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Fig. 6 is a sectional vie? taken along lines 6-6 of 7 is a sectional view taken along lines 7--7 of 8 is a sectional view taken along lines 8-8 of 9 is a sectional view taken along lines 9-9 of Fig. 10 is a bottom plan view of the butter dispenser.

Fig. 11 is an exploded view of the moving components of the butter dispenser showing the manner in which it is assembled.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawing in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, I show a butter dispenser comprising an outer casing, generally designated as A, a rotary butter compartment, generally designated as B, a butter cutting mechanism, generally designated as C, and a dispensing drawer generally designated as D. The reference character E designates quarter pound butter cakes.

The casing A comprises an outer cylindrical wall 12, which is concentrically'spaced from an inner cylindrical wall 14, and between the two walls is packed a suitable insulation material 16. The lower portion of the outer wall 12 has an annular ring 18 secured thereto which supports a base plate 20 by a plurality of machine screws 22. From the upper surface of the base plate 20 extend a plurality of tapped spacers 24 which act as stand-offs for supporting a floor 26. The outer casing has a removable cover 28 for enabling access to the rotary butter compartment B. A stand 30 which is affixed to the outer wall 12 supports the butter dispenser upon a suitable surface.

The rotary butter compartment B comprises a plurality of hollow metal chutes 32 which are supported between an upper circular flange 34 and a lower circular flange 36 as shown in Fig. 9. The upper flange 34 has a central aperture 38 therein through which ice or suitable chemical refrigerant may be inserted and packed against the chutes 32 for keeping the butter E at a convenient spreading temperature. The lower flange 36 has a plurality of spaced indexing holes 40, Fig. 8, which permit the desired chute 32A to be placed directly over the butter cutting mechanism C.

The general construction of the floor 26 is shown in Fig. 7. A pair of concentric rails 42 are dimpled upwardly from the floor and support the butter cakes E in any of the chutes 32. The floor 26 has a square hole 44 immediately below the chute 32A through which butter is free to pass onto the cutting mechanism. A finger 45 is mounted below the floor and extends to a position immediately adjacent the square hole 44. As illustrated in in Fig. 3 the floor 26 is secured to the base plate 20 by a plurality of screws 46 passing through drilled holes 48 and threaded into the tapped spacers 24. A collar 50 having a machined opening thereon is secured to the central portion of the base plate 20. The interior surface of the collar acts as a bearing for a stud 52 which extends therethrough While the exterior collar surface acts as a bearing surface about which the cutting mechanism C is pivotally supported.

The stud 52 includes a head 53, a smooth neck portion 54 and a threaded end 56. The head 53 of the stud is welded to the lower flange 36 of the rotary butter compartment, while the neck portion 54 extends through a central opening in the floor and is rotatably supported within the interior bearing surface of the collar 50. A bushing 57 is passed about the lower portion of the neck 54 and a knurled thumb nut 58 is tightly secured about the threaded end 56 of the stud.

The butter cutting mechanism C comprises a pan 60, flat cutter blade 62 and an arm 64 for pivotally swinging the cutting mechanism about the outer surface of the collar 50. See Figs. 4 and 5. Thepan surface occupies an area of approximately one-sixth of a circle and is swung through a 60 arc during the butter cutting operation. At one side of the pan 60 is an opening 66 above which the cutter blade 62 is mounted upon the upper pan surface by spacers 68 and 69. The spacing between the cutter blade 62 and the upper surface of the pan 60 governs the thickness of the butter patty which is cut thereby. A pair of rails 70 extend upwardly above the pan surface and are normally positioned below the active butter chute 32A and the opening 44 of the floor. The pan is positionally held by a spring 72 afiixed to the base plate wherehy the butter E in chute 32A will rest directly upon the rails 70. As the cutting mechanism C is swung clockwise as shown in Fig. 4, the cutter blade 62 presses against the bottom portion of the butter cake and slices off a patty. The patty is held stationary against the finger 45 and is forced to fall by gravity through the opening 66 below the cutter blade when the slice is completed.

The dispensing drawer D comprises a fiat tray 74 having a square aperture 76 therein about which a plurality of pins 78 are inserted. The tray 74 is slidably supported within a pair of shoulders 80 secured to the lower surface of the base plate 20 on either side of a rectangular opening 82 located therein. One end of the tray 74 has a bifurcated portion 84 with downwardly projecting ends 86, the other end of the tray being bent to form a drawer pull 88. When the drawer D is inserted into receiving position the bifurcated portion 84 slides about the bushing 57 and is crotehed thereabout. The pins 78 define a fence within which a conventional paper butter plate may be aligned for catching a freshly cut butter patty. The tray D is opened by drawing back on the pull 88 until the downwardly projecting ends engage stops 90 protruding from an intermediate portion of the shoulders 80. When the dispensing drawer is open, the paper butter plate with a butter patty thereon is withdrawn, and a fresh paper plate inserted into which a new patty may be collected without being touched by a persons hands. It is to be observed that as an alternative the butter patty may also drop through the square aperture 76 in the tray while the drawer D is in closed position, and be caught by a dish located below the outer casing A in line with the chute 32A.

Whenthe supply of butter in the chute 32A is exhausted, another chute 32 having a fresh source is rotated until it is in line with the square hole 44 in the floor 26. This is accomplished by withdrawing a spring loaded pin 92 which extends through holes in the base plate 20 and the floor 26 respectively and engages one of the indexing holes 40. See Fig. 6. The entire rotary butter compartment is turned to the next chute by turning the thumb nut 58.

In order to clean the interior of the compartment, the knurled thumb nut 58 is removed by loosening it from the threaded end 56 while the spring loaded pin engages one of the indexing screws 40. The rotary compartment B is then drawn out of the top of the dispenser with the stud 52. The bottom plate 20 and the floor 26 are removed simultaneously by withdrawing the securing screws 22 from the annular ring 18 in the outer cylindrical wall. Access to the cutting mechanism is obtained by taking out the screws 46 which are threaded into the adapters 24, and releasing the tray 74 over the top of the collar 50. Reassembly of the dispenser components is easily accomplished by following the opposite sequence from that described for the cleaning breakdown.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A butter dispenser comprising an outer insulated casing, a rotary butter compartment having a plurality of chutes supported between upper and lower flanges, said lower flange having a plurality of indexing holes therein, a base plate mounted to the bottom of an annular ring afiixed to said outer casing, said base plate having a centrally located collar, a floor having a pair of concentric rails dimpled upwardly therefrom and registering below said chutes, said floor being spaced from said base plate and secured to spacers thereon, a hand operated butter cutting mechanism pivotally supported upon said collar intermediate said floor and said base plate, said butter cutting mechanism comprising a pan having a blade spaced thereabove immediately above an aperture therein, said pan having upwardly dimpled rails thereon registering with said first mentioned rails, a stud affixed to the lower flange of said rotary butter compartment and extending through a hole in said collar, a thumb nut threaded upon said stud, a spring loaded pin mounted upon said base plate and extending through one of the indexing holes, a dispensing drawer slidably supported upon said base plate immediately below said butter cutting mechanism, said dispensing drawer comprising a pan with a bifurcated end slidable about said collar, and a plurality of pins mounted upon the upper surface of said pan for aligning a paper plate below said butter cutting mechanism whereby the paper plate may receive a butter patty severed by said blade from a butter cake contained in the chute above said cutting mechanism.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said butter cutting mechanism is resiliently urged by a spring in a direction to permit a butter cake in the chute above said pan to drop upon the dimpled rails of said pan.

3. A butter dispenser comprising an outer insulated casing, a rotary butter compartment having a plurality of chutes supported between upper and lower flanges, said lower flange having a plurality of indexing holes therein, a base plate mounted to the bottom of an annular ring affixed to said outer casing, said base plate having a centrally located collar, a hand operated butter cutting mechanism pivotally supported on said collar, said butter cutting mechanism comprising a pan having a blade spaced thereabove, a stud afiixed to the lower flange of said rotary butter compartment and extending through a hole in said collar, a thumb nut threaded upon said stud, a spring loaded pin mounted upon said base plate and extending through one of the indexing holes, and a dispensing drawer slidably supported upon said base plate immediately below said butter cutting mechanism, said dispensing drawer comprising a pan with a bifurcated end, and a plurality of pins mounted upon the upper surface of said pan for aligning a paper plate below said butter cutting mechanism whereby the plate may receive a butter patty severed by the blade from a butter cake contained in the chute above said cutting mechanism.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,217,953 Kavgas Mar. 6, 1917 1,690,480 Donnellan Nov. 6, 1928 2,021,340 Tripolitis Nov. 19, 193: 2,232,749 Wilson etal. Feb. 25, 1941 2,663,932 Palazzolo Dec. 29, 1953 

